The invention relates to an apparatus which prevents a locking of a door of a vehicle from being forgotten.
A door of a vehicle is usually provided with a latch mechanism which latches a door against opening, and a door lock mechanism which prevents an unlatching of the latch mechanism. When the door lock mechanism is unlocked, an outside door handle or inside door handle may be operated to unlatch the latch mechanism to open the door. When the door lock mechanism is locked, the latch mechanism cannot be unlatched if the outside or the inside door handle is operated, thus preventing the door from being opened. (It is to be noted that some vehicle is provided with a latch mechanism which is unlatched by the operation of an inside door handle independently from the locked/unlocked condition of the door lock mechanism.)
A door lock mechanism of the kind described cannot be locked unless an occupant operates an inside door locking button or a door lock key. As a consequence, a driver of the vehicle may fail to lock the door because he has got out of the vehicle while carrying a luggage or because he has made haste in getting off the vehicle, causing the likelihood that the vehicle may be subject to a theft or either part of the vehicle or any articles left therein may be tampered with.
An accident of the kind described is frequently experienced by a residence delivery vehicle or a patrol car. In actuality, a patrol car may be stolen by an offender for his flight during an instance of emergency service.
It is an object of the invention to reliably achieve a locking of a door or the like when an occupant is off his vehicle, thus preventing a theft of a vehicle or a tampering with the vehicle or articles placed therein.